NATO and EU urges Russia to accept responsibility for MH17 crash

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini urged Russia on Friday to admit its responsibility for the downing of the MH17 in eastern Ukraine and help investigate the tragedy.

The Netherlands and Australia have announced that they hold Russia responsible for its part in the downing of flight MH17 on 17 July 2014.

“I call on Russia to accept responsibility and fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2166,” Stoltenberg said.

The downing of MH17 was a global tragedy, and those responsible must be held accountable. NATO has repeatedly expressed its full support for the efforts undertaken by the Dutch authorities and others to shed light on what happened on that terrible day, and to achieve justice for the 298 people who were killed and their loved ones.

Mogherini made a similar appeal to Russia on Friday.

“The European Union reiterates its full support for the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2166, which demands that those responsible for the downing of flight MH17 on July 17, 2014 be held to account and that all States cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability,” Mogherini said.

“The European Union calls on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability,” she said.